First Ride: Husky Nuda 900/900R

When BMW-owned Husqvarna unveiled the Nuda 900 and its hopped-up 900R models earlier this year, it was evident the Italian-based company had succeeded in that most difficult of tasks - creating a road-legal motorcycle completely unlike anything else in the marketplace.

Powered by a bored and stroked 900cc version of BMW's F800 parallel twin, the lean, lithe-looking and so, so stylish, Nuda duo brought the stripped-out simplicity of a Supermoto single to the street - but with a 100-plus horsepower Rotax-built twin that threatened to deliver performance to match the attitude.

So do they? Joining the Husqvarna press launch in sunny Sardinia provided the answers, with half a day of spooling the 900R around the tight, twisty Mores circuit in the center of the Mediterranean island, followed by a 70-mile blast on the base-model Nuda 900 along its magnificent mountain roads. The conclusion? Husqvarna's R&D team led by Enrico Zelioli has produced a minimalist motorcycle that lives up to its Nuda name, and in doing so to the label bestowed on it by the Italian press: Motardona - as in, a Supermoto with hair on its chest...

For the full story on the new Nuda, see this week's Cycle News by clicking on the following link:

http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cyclenews/20111108#pg27